N Chandrasekaran sat in the audience at SAI University in Chengalpattu on Saturday, not to read a prepared script, but to tell 20-year-olds that the world is breaking open. Life, he argued, is a marathon, not a sprint. The goal isn’t to overtake the person next to you; it is to become better than you were yesterday. There will be downs. Do not fear them. But do not let confidence curdle into arrogance.
The 18-year runner spoke from personal experience. He told the students he runs for himself, with a clear target, not for the podium. “It applies to both sports and life,” he said. “It is all about the willingness to put in the effort to prepare, and not about winning.”
The air in the hall shifted when he pivoted to the elephant in the room: Artificial Intelligence. Reading about AI job losses is unnerving, he admitted. But he pushed back against the doom-and-gloom narrative. New sectors are opening. The “art of the possible” is becoming clear daily. “New industries will come up in the next five years, but we may not even know their terminology yet,” he stated. This is where India stands. He predicted India’s economic growth will be unparalleled in its own history and in any part of the world.
Chandrasekaran urged the young generation to keep learning and to curate their digital intake carefully. “Make sure you read, watch and listen to what you choose to,” he advised. He quoted tennis legend Billie Jean King: “To earn the right to feel the pressure is a privilege.” Pressure is a constant after college. Learn to enjoy it.
The address ended with a simple directive: enjoy the journey. The next five years will define the landscape. Students leaving SAI University on Saturday carried that message. The marathon has started.